This easy to prepare vegetarian pasta topping is a good alternative to traditional meat sauce. Unlike most pasta sauces, it tastes better when served over whole wheat pasta than white.

Easy Sun Oven Lentil Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup dried green lentils, picked over and rinsed

2 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional topping

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

In a large pot, combine the lentils and water. Cover and cook in the Sun Oven until the lentils are tender but not falling apart, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the lentils from the Sun Oven and drain. In the same pot, combine the oil, garlic, and tomato sauce. Stir in the cooked lentils. Cover and return the pot to the Sun Oven. Continue cooking until heated through and the flavors have blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over whole wheat pasta or brown rice.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

]]>http://www.sunoven.com/archives/11400/feed0Sun Oven® Pancakeshttp://www.sunoven.com/archives/9482
http://www.sunoven.com/archives/9482#commentsMon, 02 Dec 2013 22:58:38 +0000http://www.sunoven.com/?p=9482Not long ago on a lazy Saturday morning, I found myself walking the aisles of a local flea market. A methodical walking grid helped cover the hundreds of vendors and thousands of choices. After about 30 minutes I happened upon a commercial coffee grinder, which was the casualty of a supermarket makeover. The Grindmaster 500, built in 1984, was in working condition. $50.00 changed hands and I was the proud owner a piece of Americana. A few hours of disassembly, cleaning, and lubrication made my new grinder just perfect.

I opened two cans of wheat, one soft white and the other hard white. I ran a small amount through and through as a final cleaning, discarding this first batch. Then it was show time. I mixed the soft and hard wheat in equal parts. I ran the wheat through the grinder again and again, each time choosing a finer grind.

When I was finished I used the following recipe for pancakes or waffles:

Combine dry ingredients first

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Then add

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (we use coconut oil)

Mix well.

In the yard I set up our SunOven® to preheat. I placed a pre-greased shallow pan into the oven to get hot. I let my pancake batter set about 15 minutes to get soft and to absorb moisture. I then opened the hot oven (350 degrees F) and poured the batter into the shallow pan. A few minutes later after turning once, I had delicious, fresh and tasty SunOven® pancakes. I presented my pancakes with butter, blueberries from our yard, maple syrup, and a garnish of powdered sugar. And they were soo good!

Contributed by Robert Nicholson

]]>http://www.sunoven.com/archives/9482/feed0Dehydrating Apples in a Sun Oven®http://www.sunoven.com/archives/8893
http://www.sunoven.com/archives/8893#commentsFri, 15 Nov 2013 20:43:49 +0000http://www.sunoven.com/?p=8893Apple harvest time this year produced lots of fruit. We canned slices, made apple sauce and dried some. The SunOven® works well as a fruit dehydrator. First we set the SunOven® outside, but not focused on the sun. We wanted a slight preheat but to less than 100º. Apples were washed and aligned in a Norpro “Apple Master”, an apple peeler, corer, and slicer. A few turns of the handle made quick work of the first apple. Slide the apple spiral slices off the core and place them on a cutting board.

Slice the spiral in half. Place the apple slices in a solution of water and Fruit Fresh® ascorbic acid (follow directions on bottle) to keep the slices from turning dark.

Cover the drying racks with parchment paper and drain apple slices. Line them up on the racks. Carefully arrange the racks inside the SunOven®. Leave the door latches under the glass door to allow air flow and keep the temperature low inside. We turn the oven so it is behind the sun track. Check at the end of the day. If not completely dry, latch and leave over night. Finish the next day. When slices are dry, remove from racks and pack into a clean glass jar. Add an oxygen absorber and pull a vacuum with a Food Saver® or by hand with a clean brake bleeder. Store cool and dark.

Evacuating with you Sun Oven® makes sense. Here’s why. You can pack it full of cold items to eat and drink in the shelter. They will stay cool for some time because of its insulated design. When the storm passes, you will be able to set up outside and make a welcomed hot meal. Don’t forget to take your WAPI kit to be able to pasteurize water, too.